BLOOMFIELD — A Poplar Bluff man was ordered Thursday afternoon to stand trial for robbing the Southern Bank branch at Essex.
Accompanied by his attorney, Rance Butler with the Public Defender’s Office, Glenn Hamilton appeared before Associate Circuit Judge Joe Satterfield for a preliminary hearing on the Class A felony of first-degree robbery.
Hamilton waived having a preliminary hearing in his case, and Satterfield bound him over to stand trial on the charge.
Satterfield ordered Hamliton to appear at 10 a.m. Dec. 18 before Presiding Circuit Judge Robert Mayer for arraignment on the charge.
Hamilton, along with Jamie Y. White, is charged with robbing the Southern Bank branch, located at 101 Trotter St. in Essex.
Just before noon Oct. 21, a black male, later identified as Hamilton, entered the bank and handed the teller a note demanding cash, according to Dexter Police Detective Eddie Holloway’s probable-cause affidavit.
“The suspect then called the teller a ‘bitch’ and stated, ‘I will kill you,’” Holloway said. “(The teller) stated the male subject moved his hand to his side and (she) assumed he had a gun, but never saw a gun.”
Holloway said the teller reported she handed Hamilton nearly $1,900 before he fled the bank.
The Stoddard County Major Case Squad subsequently was activated to investigate the robbery.
“During the course of the investigation, a still photograph was developed from the bank surveillance and was given to the local media,” Holloway said.
Acting on a tip led authorities to Hamilton’s identity and possible location for him off of Township Line Road in Poplar Bluff at a mobile home, where he lived with White.
The detectives reportedly contacted White at her residence.
When shown the photo of the robbery suspect, Holloway said, White positively identified the suspect as her boyfriend.
As the investigation continued, Holloway said, officers reviewed the surveillance video and found the driver of the suspect vehicle was a white female, similar in appearance to White.
Holloway said he and Dexter Detective Cory Mills returned to White’s residence, where they told her of her rights.
“We confronted Mrs. White that she was seen in the video driving the vehicle Glenn Hamilton was in when he robbed the Essex bank,” Holloway said. “(She) stated she was driving the vehicle.”
After arriving in Essex, Hamilton, according to White’s statement, got out and returned about two minutes later.
“(She) stated she did not know Glenn was going to rob a bank when they drove to Essex,” Holloway said.
White appeared before Satterfield in November and waived having a preliminary hearing in her case.
After being bound over to Division I, White appeared Wednesday before Mayer for arraignment and was ordered to appear on Dec. 18 for a bond hearing in her case.